Co-ordinated research programme on development of feed supplementation strategies for improving ruminant productivity on small-holder farms in Latin America through the use of immunoassay techniques

The CRP on ''Development of Feed Supplementation Strategies for Improving Ruminant Productivity on Small-holder Farms in Latin America through the Use of Immunoassay Techniques'' commenced in late 1989 as a second phase using funds available from the IAEA's Regular Budget. The major factors affecting livestock productivity previously identified were nutrition inadequacies, especially in the dry season, and lack of management expertise to enable livestock to maximize production utilizing existing resources. This present CRP was formulated around infrastructures already established and experience and knowledge gained from the previous Programme. The CRP aimed to defined the nutritional factors, both macro- and micro-nutrients, which reduce the reproductive efficiency and productivity of ruminant livestock enterprises on typical small-holder farms; and thereafter to devise and test feed supplementation strategies taking into account the use of locally available feedstuffs. 1 fig